6 months later…. 6/1/2019

One of my biggest challenges now is feeding my 4 boys. Bo is easy to feed, he’s usually either too hot or too stressed or overwhelmed and doesn’t really eat. The other 4 though, wowzers. I can’t keep up with them. I realized recently that I’ve been so concerned about getting them protein, fruits & vegetables, they rarely ever get any carbs at all. No wonder they are always ravenous and starving! So I’m trying to find affordable ways, that are also nutritious, to fill their tummies. This recipe is one of my favorites right now. Quick, easy, cheap & in the instant pot. BOOM. Dinner done. Yes please. What are some of your favorites that are quick, easy & cheap (also diary free – this one works because we can use sour cream & cheese as a garnish those who can have dairy).

https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/instant-pot-chicken-taco-bowls/

There are days where I just give up on managing the kids screen free all day. It’s my goal every single day, to have them be screen free. To go outside and play, burn energy, have some great school time and for them to have the opportunity to get bored because they get so creative when they get bored and can really entertain themselves for hours if they have the opportunity to get bored and have to create their own fun. This doesn’t happen everyday though. This was one of those days where I just told them to go turn the tv on, zone out and watch something so I could have a breath. Elijah is so sweet with his brother, he took Gideon with him, propped him up on the couch next to him and stuck his leg out in front of him to brace Gideon in and make sure he didn’t roll forward off the couch. Elijah really is the best biggest brother ever and he has a very special bond with Gideon. It’s the sweetest thing in the whole world to see how much Elijah loves Gideon and wants to care for him and help with him. I’m so thankful for his tender heart and his extra special love for his brother.

Gideon used to hate bath time but since I got rid o f the infant insert sling in the tub, he LOVES it. I had to move his bath to our bathroom because he will flood the kitchen and the living room splashing wildly in the sink. It’s hysterical and awesome. I can’t even imagine having all 4 boys in the tub at the same time but I know that’s coming soon!

He is fascinated by the water coming out of the spout. He would probably play happily in the tub all day long if I’d let him.

Gideon sleeps in the strangest positions. He is extra flexible and his most recent awkward flexibility thing is that he will sit up in his bed and chatter and play with his blanket until he falls asleep. He just folds right in half sitting on his butt with his legs out in front of him, he folds at the waist, puts his face down on his feet and goes right to sleep. He is actually napping in that exact position right now. It looks so uncomfortable, I’ll often try to pull his legs out from under him so he can lay flat but he will cry, roll on his back and pull his feet back up to his face to get comfortable again. He has orthodics he wears when he will be in weight bearing positions that go up over his ankles and give him great support for standing and keep his ankles from turning but when he doesn’t have those on, his feet will basically turn almost all the way around in a circle, it’s quite startling to see and pretty gross. Hopefully his muscles, tendons & ligaments will all tighten up as he continues to bear more weight and has his orthodics on to keep him in proper position. He still wears his SPIO suit everyday and likely will keep that until he’s a pro at walking which will be a while. He gets into a 3 point crawl stance with 1 leg sticking out like a peg leg but he hasn’t actually moved at all yet, he puts his forehead back on the floor and flattens out like a pancake. Physically, Gideon is doing great. His heart is working excellently, 99-100% in comparison to his brothers which I still don’t understand as it has cadaver cardiac muscle in it, bovine & goretex but the surgeon says that’s what the goal of his surgeries was so they were successful. It blows my mind but I am just thankful for modern medicine, technology & the surgeons that saved him. I may love my chemical free cleaners and essential oils but I certainly agree that there is a time and place for western medicine, technology & drugs and am so thankful we have such great access to those things where we live.

We are starting to get more serious about sign language with Gideon. This is one of his unofficial signs when I say “How big is Gideon!?!” and he replies with this ‘sign’ as I squeal back at him “SOOOO BIG!!!”. He loves it and thinks it’s the most fun so he will throw his hands up regularly to get that reaction from me. It’s ADORABLE and my most favorite thing right now. He will sign ‘more’ perfectly at the table during meal time until he gets ignored then start just flailing wildly ‘MORE’ with his hands if he still doesn’t get responded to until he finally yells about it. It’s quite entertaining. He knows a few more words like eat, all done, my turn and bye bye so we are working on please and thank you, drink and i’m not sure what’s next.

This is how weekends are supposed to be. Fresh mowed grass & the whole family outside. Perfection. As for Bo and I, he has been back home for 6 months now, we are still in counseling and to be honest, we are still really struggling. We had hoped it would be getting better, be easier, be more pleasant by now.. A lot has changed, there are many differences than before, but it’s still just gosh darn HARD. We cut back on counseling due to scheduling and have missed our last few appointments due to childcare which is difficult to come by. So many friends offer their kids to watch my kids but they are 4 boys. They don’t have a shutoff when it comes to fun, excitement, craziness, or energy. We need someone who can temper their enthusiasm and keep them safe from themselves. Lol. It’s awesome to have caregivers who are young and love to play and can keep up with them, but they also need to know how to shut it down and maintain control becasue they are full of energy and just as much, they are full of spirit and spunk andd could run over a less experienced babysitter like a freight train if they aren’t highly skilled in maintaining control. Affordable childcare is always a struggle, just like filling their bellies.

We frequent the neighborhood parks and I am still so darn thankful that the kids LOVE to go to these parks. It’s as if we’ve never gone before when we go there multiple times per week. Moses just learned how to pump his legs and oh, how funny it is when he does it. Those are his yellow rain boots high up in the sky and his head pointed at the ground on the swing. Hysterical. He had a bocce ball accident last week at a different park and fractured his finger. I learned what a “tuft” fracture is. His finger tip got crushed between 2 bocce balls (nice aim, Elijah) and it crushed the bone in his fingertip. We followed up with orthopedics this past Friday and the bone fragments are healing nicely and as long as he keeps it splinted and doesn’t have any more accidents with it (like brother stepping on it just after we got home from ortho then crashing hard off his bike today – he has no physical limitations per ortho so his bike is fine, as is the swings) it should re-absorb nicely and he will be fine. The only concern is his nailbed since your fingernail extends beyond your cuticle and that’s just where he got hit with the ball is below the cuticle so his fingernail under the skin is damaged. They also said it’s considered an open fracture since the nail was damaged and there is risk for infection to set in there. We keep it splinted, clean & oiled, hopefully it continues to heal well. His eyes are not doing so great. We go back to Opthalomogy next week to get him a prescription for glasses and keep praying for his cataracts to heal because that’s not a surgery I want to have to go through with him. Twice. But his eyes are declining so hopefully glasses will help.

Gideon still has PT/OT every week and now has speech every month as well. We will be working on sign language and cup training in speech therapy. He popped 4 teeth through all at once at the exact same time my milk apparently dried up so there is concern for him to become dehydrated now. He’s never taken a bottle and doesn’t drink from a sippy cup or straw cup yet so he’s getting very limited hydration so we need to work on that, quickly.

Again, my apologies for the unorganized, all over the place blog. We so appreciate you keeping up with us and praying with our family. Current prayers are for our marriage, Elijahs heart/mind as he sees a lot of the struggle we have in marriage, Moses finger healing & cataracts to be healed, Solomons spunk, that it would turn to positive spunk rather than negative spunk & Gideons continued healthy heart & body and learning more sign language.

THANK YOU!!!
Kari & the crew

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